The week before Christmas was always a remarkably busy time in our costume shop (second only to Halloween week), with church pageants, school productions, community parades, holiday parties, and the big guy himself: Santa, with a cadre of assorted elves to accompany him. We would have rental Santa costumes, beards, and wigs coming and going from morning until night. . . .and it was great fun! Keeping all that red velvet or plush, white fur, and beard/wig hair clean and in perfect condition was an enormous challenge!
For any of you readers who may work in costumes -- or who are fortunate enough to have your own Santa ensemble -- I though I'd offer a few tried and true tips for keeping things looking like new, no matter how many tykes climbed upon your knee this year!
If the jacket, pants and hat are washable (as most well-made ones are nowadays), you will get excellent results if you follow these simple instructions: Turn the suit inside out and machine wash, in cold water, on gentle cycle, using 1/2 cup of Suave shampoo with built-in conditioner mixed with 1/2 cup of ground black pepper. (Now, I realize that this sounds a bit crazy, but I have experimented with more solutions than I care to remember, and this really works! The shampoo/conditioner will keep the velvet/plush and fur trim from matting up and will leave the suit as soft as a child's favorite stuffed toy. The pepper will keep any of the red from 'bleeding' onto the white fur.) While still inside out, place the suit into the dryer, with 3-4 fabric softener sheets, and dry on medium setting for 20 minutes. Remove suit from dryer and hang to finish air drying. If necessary, use a hairbrush to give the white fur a little extra 'fluff' after completely dry. Never, never, never store your suit in a plastic bag! If you need to keep it hidden, just cover it with a clean sheet and keep it at the back of your closet.
To clean and restyle the traditional white beard and wig, fill a large dishpan or sink with hot tap water and add a good squirt of Santa's best-kept-secret: Suave shampoo with built-in conditioner. Place the beard and wig into the shampoo bath and swish them around well, but don't really agitate them or you'll get awful tangles! If there are candycane stains or other trouble spots, just put a few drops of the shampoo on the area and work in well with your fingertips. Let them soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse under a running faucet (the bathtub faucet works best, since it has a stronger flow) until water runs clear. But, you're not done just yet! Fill your clean dishpan or sink with warm water and add 1 teaspoon of bluing, making sure not to get any on your hands or clothing. (Bluing can be found in most grocery store detergent aisles, but you may have to ask someone to help you find it.) After the bluing is fully dispersed in the water, give the beard and wig a good 10 minute soak, then rinse again under a running faucet. Gently squeeze excess water from the beard and wig, but do not wring or twist, as you'll break the fibers and end up with frizzy hair! Hang overnight, to dry. To re-style and put the shine back in your Santa hair, use a wide bristle vent brush and gently brush out the wig and the beard, then give a light spray of Oil Sheen. (This product can be found in most discount stores, beauty supply stores, etc. and is used to spray on hair that is particularly brittle or lacking in shine. A little goes a long way, so be frugal with it.) You will be amazed at how lustrous your Santa hair will be! Again, never, never, never store your wig and beard in plastic! Place in a paper bag to keep fresh until next year!
I hope this helps some of you and that all of Santa's helpers will have a very, very Merry Christmas this year!
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